(NAPSI)—As a victim of identity theft and an advocate for victims of
this crime, I have learned that no matter how safe you think your information
is, it isn’t. And no matter how simple it may
seem to prove your own innocence, that isn’t easy either. I take
precautions against identity theft and urge others to do the same because I
know that cleaning up after an occurrence of an identity theft can be time
consuming and costly—financially as well as emotionally.

Denise Richardson

Just as in any of life’s
circumstances, knowledge is power. That should include becoming wise to
some of the lesser-known types of identity theft—and the various
methods crooks use today to access our data and identity. Whether your
personal information is used to commit other crimes, clean out your bank
accounts, file false tax returns, steal your home equity or obtain medical
benefits, the crime can affect you for years to come. Take a look at these
recent cases in the news. These stories demonstrate that identity theft is
about far more than just your credit report.

Take the case of Larry Smith. His name, birth certificate and personal
details were used by someone else to obtain medical benefits; all the while,
he also used Smith’s name and “identity” to commit various
crimes that eventually landed Smith in jail, left to prove his innocence.

The time, energy and money the
Smiths have invested in trying to recover from this identity theft are
staggering. Not many of us can even imagine that nightmare—but it
happens.

Most of us can’t imagine, either, what Anndorie
Sachs has been through. She got a call at her home telling her that she had
given birth to a baby addicted to methamphetamines. Since she hadn’t
had a baby in over two years, she knew someone had obtained medical services
using her name. In 2009, over 300,000 people experienced some form of medical
identity theft.

Now consider the case of Mike Calcutt of Minnesota.
He had his home equity line hacked to the tune of $88,593, and despite being
able to show that whoever faxed in the requests for access was fraudulent, he
has to pay back the bank. Then there is Florida resident Terri Bryan, who learned
that someone filed a false tax return using her Social Security number and
date of birth. As Bryan
now waits on the results of an IRS investigation, she also waits on her
refund—and word of what other crimes may be committed in her name.

Lenny Vigliotti is a Florida
resident who discovered that somebody wired $12,000 from his savings account
through multiple banks, before it ended up in the Ukraine. Three months later, he
was still fighting to recover his money.

Fortunately, it’s not all bad
news. There are a lot of things that we can do today that we couldn’t
do just a few years ago to lessen the risk and impact of this crime. As
identity theft has evolved, so has the technology to detect it. Credit
protection alone isn’t enough. Companies such as LifeLock,
online at www.lifelock.com, use
up-to-the-minute methods to detect, alert, protect and, if necessary, help
correct the harm caused by an identity theft.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time, desire or
the tech savvy to scour the more than 10,000 black market chat rooms
detecting whether data that was hacked, phished or skimmed by a hi-tech
device or criminal activity is being sold. If something happens to me like
happened to Smith, Sachs, Calcutt, Bryan or Vigliotti, I’ll have help getting my life back.

• Denise Richardson is a consumer advocate and author of “Give Me Back My
Credit!” A victim of identity theft, she became a certified identity
theft risk management specialist, trained by The Institute of Fraud Risk
Management, and is a member of the National
Association of Consumer Advocates.